This is me, I suppose.  

Someone who got started during the glory days of computing (1970's).  Rode the wave, life was good, really enjoyed the job.  Computing was fun.  Univac, IBM, Burroughs, Honeywell, HP, Amdahl, and so on.  And yes, I was probably the penultimate geek.  As a teenager I had fun fixing vacuum tube TVs so that I could have one in my room.  I even played the violin all through high school and into University.

I had already built my own microcoded 16 bit PC in my home lab out of 7400 series TTL logic.  Unfortunately I had no money to buy memory so it never made it out of my basement and I never got rich.  

Then along came the IBM PC!  Here I was, 10 years into my career.  Few people could see the impact personal computing would make to our society.  I remember some mainframers thinking PC's were a passing fad.  Now, I really want to see the sociological impact study that will be written in 200 years.  So I have to come back.

After watching the explosive growth of computing into all aspects of our lives and surviving for 30 years in the business I am unemployed.  Still not rich.  Effectively retired at 50 with no perceived skills of value.  SoftwareAgeism.  So, I think I will finish my PhD.  After all, I might just as well expand my knowledge base so I better understand how little I really know.  And make a real contribution. 

william.miles@kisekaeworld.com

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